Sintering machine



July 3,1945. M, OV R 2,379,418

SINTERING MACHINE Filed Nov. 9, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VE NEI'ORMarfinLCoyer July 3, 1945. M. OVER SINTERING MACHINE Filed NOV. 9, 19432 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 3, 1945 Martin L'. Coven Allen Park,Mich., assignor to National Steel Corporation, a corporation of DelawareApplication November 9, 1943, Serial No. 509,562'

' 14 Claims. (Cl. 266-21) The present invention relates to sinteringmachines for sintering finely divided ore, flue dust and materialscontaining combustible ingredients; More particularly, it relates toimprovements in such machines which materially increase the capacitythereof and at the same time provide a suitable bed of material to besintered without the necessity of increasing thexsize of the machine orin any way interfering with the operation thereof. In sintering machinesthe material to be sintered is deposited upon a grate and is ignited,after which combustion is propagated through of the pallets.

tively thick bed of material withoutany corresponding increase in theheight of the side walls Where the present invention is employed, abedof material may be sintered which extends a substantial distanceabovethe top of the sides of the pallets, and this is accomplishedwithout any material increase in thecost of the machine and withoutmaterially increasing the production costs over those which wouldprevail when sintering a thin bed of material which does not extendabove the top of the side walls of the pallets. Moreover, where thepresent invention is the mass by causing the passage of an air currenttherethrough. In the well-known Dwight and Lloyd type of sinteringmachine, to whichv the present invention is particularly adapted, atrain of separate pallets carrying the material to be sintered is movedalong an endless track, the

pallets on the upper run of the track traveling beneath a feed hopperfrom which the material is discharged onto the grate sections of thepallets. The pallets then pass beneath burners which serve to ignite thematerial. During the continued travel of the pallets along the upper runof the track, they pass above a succession of windboxes by means ofwhich a down draft is produced through the material so that combustionis propagated downwardly through the mass. At the discharge or deliveryend of the machine, the sintered material is discharged from thepallets.

In general, the material to be sintered consists of fine particles,commonly designated as fines," and relatively large particles,- usuallydesignated as aggregates, these materials being intermixed and depositedupon the grate of the pallet. Each pallet has side walls'to retain thefines and aggregates on the grate portion thereof. These side wallsordinarily extend slightly above the bed of material to be sintered sothat the bed of material will be of substantially uniform thickness fromone side to the other. Where a thicker bed of material is desired, theside walls of the pallets may extend to a greater height above thegrates thereof, but. there are limits beyond which it is impracticableto go in this-respect. If an attempt is made to increase the height ofthe side walls of the pallets, operating problems are created and thecost of the machine andthe cost employed it may be possible to evendispense with pallets having side walls and to utilize instead a fiatgrate structure without any side walls. the

side guards of my invention being adequate to prevent the material fromflowing over the sides of the grate structure during the time it remainsin a non-adherent condition.

Considerable diiiiculty has been encountered heretofore in providing abed of material of such character that uniform sintering throughout; thebed will be obtained. The material is not deposited uniformly on thegrates of the pallets by the spout leading from the bin containing thematerial to be sintered. Consequently, it is necessary to providemeansfor leveling the deposited material and for breaking up any lumpsthereof and particularly those adjacent the surface. I

have found that even where such leveling means the particles do notcohere properly.

of operation thereof are materially increased.

is provided there is a marked tendency for the flame to enter the bednon-uniformly with the result that a channeling action takes place and Ihave overcome this difficulty by the provision of means located betweenthe feeding spout and .the burners for compacting the surface of thematerial. As a consequence, in my machine a uniformly level bed ofmaterial which is compacted somewhat at the surface is provided beforethe material reaches the igniting burners. The resulting blocks ofslnt'ered material are, therefore, uniform in thickness and thecombustion therein has been means may beutilized and the advantages'ofmy 1 invention obtained. I

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional viewthrough the charging end of a sintering machine embodying my invention,the mechanism for moving the grate structure being omitted;

Figure 2 is a transverse section taken along the line 11-11 of Figure 1;and

Figure 3 is a horizontal section taken along the line III-III of Figure1.

In the embodiment shown in the drawings, the material M to be sintered,which comprises finely divided ore, flue dust and other materialcontaining combustible ingredients, is discharged from the feed spout 2onto pallets 3 which form a traveling grate structure. The apparatus formoving the pallets continuously beneath the spout is not shown in thedrawings as it does not constitute any part of the present invention. Atraveling grate structure and mechanism for moving it are disclosed inShallock patents, Nos. 1,764,696 and 1,856,270, and reference is herebymade to said patents for a full description of ap paratus of thischaracter. The pallets 3 have upwardly extending side walls 5 whichextend above the bottom or grate 5. The bottom 5 of each pallet isprovided with a plurality of holes 5a through which air is drawn bymeans of wind boxes (not shown) which are positioned beyond the ignitingburners.

.After the material M has been deposited upon the pallets it is carriedforwardly beneath a leveling plate 6 which serves to level the topsurface thereof so as to present a body of. material for sintering whichis of substantiallyv uniform thickness. The leveling plate 6 ispivotally supported on pins 1, each of which is carried by an arm 8 of aclevis 9. Each clevis is carried by a rod which is mounted in bearings Hsupported by a transversely extending beam 12. The transverselyextending beam [2 is supported by means of upwardly extending plates l3which are carried on the supporting structure.

The leveling plate 6 may be moved 'to any suitable position dependingupon the desired depth of the material to be sintered. Pins M, which aremounted in holes in side plates or angles 25, hold the leveling plate inany desired position. A plurality of spaced holes l5 are provide in eachof the side plates or angles 25 so that the plate may be adjusted to avariety of positions.

Leveling members or scrapers are also provided for leveling the body ofmaterial to be sintered. These scrapersa-lso serve to break up any largepieces of material at the surface of the body of material to besintered. Spaced brackets I6 are welded to the leveling plate and extendforwardly thereof. These spaced brackets carry a shaft H in notches Ila.The leveling members or scrapers IB are pivotally carried by this shaftl1 A longitudinally extending side guard or angle 25 is mounted at eachside of the traveling pallets and these side guards extend verticallyabove the top of the side walls of the pallets. They extendlongitudinally from a position just behind the spout 2 to a position ashort distance beyond the burners for sintering the material. These sideguards are stationary and do not move with and extend downwardly intoengagement with the top surface of the body of material. Each levelingmember is provided with a forwardly extending foot portion I9 whichbears against the top surface of the material.

A roller 22 is also provided for leveling and slightly compacting thesurface of the material to be sintered. A shaft 20 is carried by notches20a in the spaced brackets l6. and this shaft carries downwardlyextending, pivotally mounted arms 2! on which the roller 22 is mounted.Ordinarily the weight of the roller is adequate to sufiiciently leveland compact the material, but, in order to hold the roller in positionon the material and press it downwardly, a spring 23' may be utilized..By virtue of the fact that the roller effects a compacting of thematerial at and adjacent the surface of the bed, the flame takes hold ofthe material uniformly and a uniformly sintered, coherent productresults.

the pallets. They are supported from downwardly extending angles 24which are carried by the transverse beam I2. These side guards permitthe supplying to the pallets of a greater amount of material than couldbe otherwise supplied to them because the material extending upwardlyabove the side walls ofthe pallets will be held in position on thepallets by these guards.

A plurality of burners 26 are spaced above the material on the palletsat a point beyond the leveling means. These burners are used forigniting the material to be sintered. The burners are mounted at thelower ends of vertically extending pipes 21 which communicate with aheader 28 towhich gas and air are supplied by pipes 29 and 30.

It is necessary to have the side guards extend a short distance behindthe outlet of the spout to prevent any of the material supplied to thegrate structure by the spout from flowing laterally over the sides ofthe pallets. It is also desirable that these side guards extend slightlybeyond the burners 26 so that by the time the pellets pass beyond theends of these guards the material thereon will have become ,sufiicientlycoherent that it will not flow laterally over the sides of the palletseven though extending above those sides to an appreciable extent. Ofcourse, the leveling plate, the leveling members or scrapers, and theroller compact the material to some extent and provide a uniform layerof material on the pallets so that even though the side guards do notextend forwardly of the burners to any appreciable extent, the materialwill tend to adhere together and, to some extent, prevent it fromflowing outwardly over the sides of the pallets.

While, in the preferred embodiment shown in the drawings and describedabove, the stationary side guards are employed as complementary to theusual side walls of the usual pallets, it will be seen that my inventionmay be employed in connection with a traveling grate structure having noside walls, the stationary guards serving to hold the material on thegrate structure until the sintering has proceeded to a sufficient extentto cause the material to cohere sufficiently to prevent it from flowingover the sides of the grate structure. Where the usual side walls of thegrate structure are dispensed with, it may be desirable to extend thestationary side guards further along the grate structure beyond theigniting means, but ths can be done without materially increasing thecost of such guards.

It will be readily appreciated that the capacity' of theordinarysintering machine is greatly increased by the use of stationaryside guards due to the fact that the material can be built up above theside walls to an appreciable extent. It will also be appreciated thatthis increase in capacity is achieved without the necessity of greatlyincreasing the cost of the sintering machine or production costs.Moreover, the side walls of the pallets may be dispensed with entirelyand, thus, the cost of the machine and operating costs materiallyreduced.

While I have shown and described a preferred aeraeis 1. A sinteringmachine comprising a. pluralit terial -ieeding means to a point beyondthe ig- I niting means.

f pallets forming a traveling grate structure. each of said palletshaving a bottom and side walls extending above the bottom, means forfeeding material to be sintered to the pallets, and stationary sideguards complementing and extending above the side walls of saidpallets-adjacent the material-feeding means.

2. A sintering machine comprising a plurality of pallets forming atraveling grate structure, each of said pallets having a bottom andsidewalls extending above the bottom, means for feeding ma-- terial to besintered to said pallets, means for tudinally extending stationary sideguards complementing and extending above the side walls of the pallets,said side guards extending from the material-feeding means to'a pointadjacent the igniting means.

3. A sintering machine comprising a plurality of pallets forming atravelin grate structure, each igniting the material to be sintered, andlongi' of said pallets having a bottom and side walls extending abovethe bottom, means for feedin material to be. sintered to said pallets,leveling means extending transversely of the grate structure adjacentthe feeding means for leveling the material fedthereto, means forigniting the material to be sintered, side guards complementing andextending above the side walls of the pallets. and means for supportingthe side guards adjacent the material-feeding and leveling means.

4. A sintering machine comprising a plurality of pallets forming atraveling grate structure, each of said pallets having a bottom and sidewalls cx-- tending above the bottom, means for feeding ma terial to besintered to said pallets, leveling means including a leveling plateextending transversely ofthe grate structure adjacent the feeding meansfor leveling the 'material fed thereto, meansior igniting the materialto be sintered, and longitudinally extending side, guards extendingabove the .side walls of the pallets and extending from a point adjacentthe material-feeding and leveling means to a point beyond the ignitingmeans.

5. A sintering'machine comprising a plurality of pallets forming atraveling grate structure, means for feeding material to be sinteredtosaid pallets,

stationary side guards extending vertically above the pallets adjacentthe sides thereof, and means for supporting the stationary side guardsadjacent the material-feeding means.

6. A sintering machine comprising a plurality of pallets forming atraveling grate structure,

means for feeding material to be sintered to said of pallets forming atraveling grate structure,

means for feeding material to be sintered to the pallets, a levelingplate adjacent the feeding.

means for leveling material fed to the pallets, means for igniting thematerial on the pallets, stationary side guards extending verticallyabove said pallets adjacent the sides thereof, and means for supportingsaid side guards, the guards extending from a point adjacent the ma- 8.A sintering machine comprising a traveling grate structure, mean forfeeding material to be sintered to said traveling grate structure,igniting means extending transversely of the grate structure forigniting the material thereon, longitudinally extending stationary sideguards adjacent the edges of said traveling grate structure andextending vertically above it, and means for supporting said stationaryside guards; said guards extending from a point adjacent thematerial-feeding means to a point on the opposite side of said ignitingmeans, whereby the guards will retain material to be sintered on thegrate structure until after it has been ignited and the particlesthereof caused to adhere to a'sumcient extent to prevent substantialflow thereof from the grate structure.

9. A sintering machine comprising a plurality of pallets forming atraveling grate structure, means for feeding material to be sintered tosaid pallets, surface compacting means extending transversely of thegrate structure, and means for supporting the surface compacting meansin contact with the material on said grate structure so that the weightthereof exerts a compacting pressure on material on the pallets.

10. A sintering machine comprising a plurality of pallets forming atraveling rate structure,

means for feeding material to be sintered to said pallets, a rollerextending transversely of the grate structure, and means for supportingthe roller in contact with the material carried by the .grate structureso that the weight thereof exerts a compacting pressure on material onthe pallets.

11. A sintering machine comprising a traveling grate structure, meansfor feeding material to be sintered to said traveling -grate structure,means extending transversely of the rate structure for igniting thematerial thereon, longitudinally extending stationary side guardsadjacent the edges of said traveling grate structure and extendingvertically above it, means for supporting said stationary side guards,said guards extending from a point adjacent the materialfeeding means toa point beyond said igniting means, whereby the'guards will retainmaterial to be sintered onthe grate structure until after it has beenignited and the particles thereof caused to adhere to a sufficientextent to prevent substantial flow thereof from the grate structure,surface compacting means extending transversely of the grate structure,and means for supporting the surface compacting means in contact withmaterial on said grate structure between said side guards and betweenthe materialfeeding mean and the igniting means.

12. A sintering machine comprising a traveling grate structure, meansfor feeding material to besintered to said traveling grate structure,means extending transversely or the grate structure for igniting thematerial thereon, longitudinally extending stationary side guardsadjacent means.

machine comprising a travel- 13. A sintering ing grate structure, meansfor feeding material to be sintered to said traveling grate structure,means extending transversely of the grate structure for igniting thematerial thereon, longitudinally extending stationary side guardsadjacent the edges of said traveling grate structure and extendingvertically above it, means for supporting said stationary side guards,said guards extending from a point adjacent the material-feeding meansto a point on the opposite side of said igniting means, whereby theguards retain material to be sintered on the grate structure until afterit has been ignited and the particles thereof caused to adhere to asuflicient extent to prevent substantial flow thereof from the gratestructure, leveling means including a leveling plate and scraping meansextending transversely of the grate structure, and means for supportingthe leveling plate and the-scrapers with their bottom ends above thegrate structure and between said side guards between the feeding meansand the igniting means.

14. A sintering machine comprising a travelin grate structure, means forfeeding material to be sintered to said traveling grate structure,

means extending transversely of the grate structure for igniting thematerial thereon, longitudinally extending stationary side guardsadjacent the edges of the traveling grate structure and exextendingtransversely of the grate structure be-.

tween said side guards.

. MARTIN L. COVER.

